Ranches and farms have utilized barbed wire fences for more than a century. The combined advantages of low cost, effectiveness of enclosure and simplicity of installation have kept the barbed wire fence the principal form of field enclosure to date. Although it is common to use swinging gate structures to provide access to enclosures around farm buildings or other areas to which frequent access is desired, such gate structures are not very economical nor are they necessary for barbed wire field enclosures for which access is much less frequent. As an alternative to swinging gates, many ranchers and farmers provide their wire fences with wire gates comprising two adjacent posts, only one of which posts is fixed to the ground. Wire coming from one direction is attached to the stationary post while wire coming from the other direction is attached to the loose post. The two posts may be lashed together with wire windings or with a wire loop, thereby completing the enclosure. To open the gate, the loose post is unlashed and laid down permitting vehicles or animals to be driven through the resulting opening.
Such wire gates, although inexpensive and easy to install, present some problems to the user. Barbed wire windings or loops typically used to fasten the gate posts together present a danger of cutting the user or tearing his clothes. Even if the loop is made of smooth wire, two-handed manipulation of the gate and wire loop is usually necessary in order to open or close the gate, so that there still exists a danger of cuts or clothing damage from the barbed wire of the fence. Furthermore, two-handed operation of the gate usually means that a farmer or rancher using a horse or a two-wheeled vehicle must dismount to open or close the gate.